World-conquering star Adele would have been rejected if she had tried to find fame on The X Factor, according to The Script's frontman Danny O'Donoghue.

The Irish star - a judge on BBC One's soon-to-launch talent show The Voice - believes Adele would not have succeeded because her look does not fit "the mould".

But he reckons she would have had no difficulties on his new Saturday night programme which aims to reward talent rather than image. The Voice auditions contestants without actually seeing them.

Curvaceous star Adele has found global fame in the past year, crowned with six Grammys and a double Brit win last month. Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld drew condemnation recently when he remarked that she was "too fat".

O'Donoghue said other talent shows would have failed to give her a chance because she did not look like a conventional pop star.

He said: "We need to take the music industry by the scruff of the neck and get it back out of 'everybody needs to be in this mould and if you're not in this silhouette of that's what a pop star should be then you're not getting in'.

"There's artists out there that are breaking the mould. Adele's a perfect example. Six Grammys.

"If she'd have probably gone on one of those shows, maybe they would have taken her at face value and gone 'uh-oh'. Not on The Voice."

The Voice launhces on Saturday 24 March on BBC1, the very same night as the return of Britain's Got Talent on the other side. Here are its stars at yesterday's launch:

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The Voice is making itself heard with a high-profile launch ahead of its first episode on BBC1 on Saturday 24 March. Pictures: PA